Turtle, Peril, and Cliff's Halloween Adventure
by Sandshadow9
Summary: For the past few nights someone has been sneaking into the royal crypt, and tonight Turtle, Peril, and Cliff decide to investigate...but things aren't always as simple as they appear.


There were dozens of things Turtle would rather be doing right now: eating, sleeping, writing….

OK so maybe there was only three things but all of them were leaps and bounds better than what he was doing right now: talons squished in mud and rotting leaves, a cold autumn breeze up his back, the moons cold and white as they were pinched between the black emptiness of the night sky and the foamy clouds that danced between the moonbeams.

 _Oh, that was good! I should write that down!_

"Turtle, keep your head down," Peril hissed at him from his right side. She wore her usual resting scowl face and today her talons were accented with the dust of the burned leaves that had been the unfortunate recipients of her power. The three of them were pressed close to the ground, crouched behind a moss-covered boulder. To his left was the little Prince Cliff, a furrowed brow dipping between his eyes as they remained downwards and locked onto the bottom of the adjacent hill where a pile of inconspicuous rubble and stones gathered.

Of course, this wasn't just ANY old pike of rocks. Nope. According to Cliff this was where the emergency escape tunnels from the palace emptied out. They had doing this stake-out for the past hour, enduring the cold earth that sucked the heat from his skin to leave him numb, and is aching joints that were about to burst if he had to stay crouched for another moment, all because of…because…

"Why are we doing this again?" Turtle asked and was shushed on both sides.

"We is watching," Cliff murmured with an expression most dour. His high-pitch voice and giant eyes still made everything he did pretty adorable. Turtle shifted his weight around to his left side, giving the right a break. For once in his life he was glad to be so close to Peril's scorching scales.

"And why is that again?"

"To find out who's been sneaking in and out for the past week," Peril reminded with a snap of frustration. That's when it came back to him. Cliff had mentioned something about seeing a hooded figure coming and going from this secret entrance. None of the guards had noticed in the palace and Queen Ruby hadn't believed him. Chalking it up to an overactive imagination. Peril had believed him though, and now here they were. Turtle sighed.

"You know," Turtle slid his whisper towards Peril, "when you invited me to the Sky Kingdom for the Autumn Equinox feast, I expected more feasting and less.. _.this_."

Peril's resting scowl became more of a shut-up-before-I-burn-your-eyes-out scowl. "Yeah well when I invited you I expected less complaining so I guess neither one of us is getting what we wanted."

"Ouch. OK so I might be complaining a lot but there's no need to be rude about it! I just would have liked a warning or memo in advance…maybe some snacks…just a suggestion."

Peril rolled her eyes. "You didn't HAVE to come with me tonight, you know. No one forced you."

"Of course I did!" he objected, earning him another shush. "When your best friend says they're going to sneak out in the middle of the night to catch a mysterious figure shrouded in darkness, you don't just let them go alone!"

Peril shifted her eyes towards the ground. She stabbed a claw into the soft soil, drawing a wiggly line in the dirt. "I'm your…best friend?"

Before Turtle could answer Cliff was nudging him excitedly. "There! Look!"

The trio peeked over the boulder to watch as a hooded figure approached the base of the hill. The black cloak caught on the branches and bushes but the wearer paid little heed. It looked left, then right, before squeezing past the giant stones and disappearing into the hill. A chill ran up Turtle's spine as he realized he hadn't really believed Cliff either. His younger brothers had always made up stories to try and scare each other. After a while you just came to assume every crazy story was another ruse. But now he believed.

"See!" Cliff's face was crowded by a giant grin. "It _wasn't_ just my imagination! There is someone sneaking around."

Peril's eyes gleamed in that way that indicated she had found something she could burn without getting in trouble. "Yeah, and we're about to lose them. Come on!" She shot up from her spot and glided down the hill's face. Turtle stood up next, wincing as his stiff joints snapped and popped. He should really do more stretching. And exercise. But that would come later!

"Peril, wait!" he called before grabbing Cliff and soaring down as well. His numbed talons struggled to keep their grip on the wiggling prince but luckily it was a short flight. By the time they reached the ground Peril was already trying to shuffle her way around the right row boulders. From the top of the hill they had looked like little pebbles but up close they reminded Turtle of barracuda teeth: thin, sharp, and jutting in every direction in the hopes of spearing a trembling little SeaWing prince as he snuck by.

"Hurry up!" Peril's voice rang through his thoughts. He squinted, trying to cut through the shadows too see where his friend had gone. Barely visible through the dense cluster of rocks was a large, perfectly round hole that acted as an entrance to a vast stone tunnel. A ring of thick moss coated the rim, slowing the trickles of water that dripped from the top of the opening as gravity pulled the moisture from the hill. Sucking in a breath Turtle held in his stomach as he squished, fought, and pulled his way through the tight pathway. His efforts were rewarded when he finally reached the tunnel…and was slap in the face by the dankest, moldiest atmosphere to ever grace his snout.

Choking on the air he took a miss-step to his left and something squelched beneath his talons. Great. He didn't bother to look down to see what it was. He knew it would only cause him more misery. Instead he shook whatever it was off and went to find the others. _Jeez, whoever it is that keeps sneaking down here must have a good reason._ _How could anyone return to this place more than once?_

Using his glow scales to lead the way he walked the length of the short tunnel. He didn't have to go far to find his companions. They sat perplexed at a crossroad, two tunnels leading in opposite directions. Turtle cocked his head. "Two tunnels?"

Cliff was the one to respond. "Yep! One to the palace and one to the tombs."

"Oh. OK," Turtle said and it took him several moments to fully understand what had been said. Once that moment of clarity struck he choked on the spit in his mouth as he cried out, "Tombs! No one said anything about _tombs_ or _graves_ or DEAD THINGS!"

"Well of COURSE they would be down here," Peril said. "Where else are they going to keep the Queens' bones?"

"BONES? QUEENS? QUEEN BONES?" Fear like ice shot through his limbs. "Why would you KEEP those? I thought SkyWings burned their dead!"

"AARH! WOULD YOU STOP FREAKING OUT?" Fed by her annoyance the flames of her body jumped around to dry out the damp walls. Luckily Cliff had had the sense to sit a safe distance away. "You're acting like it's a weird thing to keep dead bodies around. What do you do with YOUR dead Queens?"

"OK first of all, it totally IS weird to keep dead bodies around," Turtle pointed out, "secondly, it's pretty impossible to bury bodies in the ocean and right now I _really_ don't want to get into the elaborate ritual around it." He was surrounded by enough death as it was, besides, it seemed Peril wasn't all that interested in listening anyway. Her and Cliff were already making their way down the tunnel to the right, her glowing scales moving like a lantern.

Turtle scrambled after them. "So is this the path to the palace or the…"

"Tombs," Cliff answered. "If this mystery dragon person was going for the palace the guards would have seen them. So, by my deductionabible, she _must_ be in the tombs! Is only logical!"

"Oh. Of course," Turtle grumbled then flinched as something ran past his feet. He brightened his scales to see a rat's red eyes staring back. He let out a small sigh of relief, until he saw what was in the rat's mouth. It looked like a bone. A small joint from a talon. A _dragon's_ talon. There even appeared to be lumps of flesh still attached but the rat scurried away before Turtle could know for sure. Suddenly he was very very NOT relieved. "Has…uh…anyone been buried down here recently?" Turtle wheezed out. Peril shrugged and looked to Cliff who shook his head.

"Nope. Grandma was da last one. When mommy killed her real good we took her boneses and put them down here. A lot of dragons in mommy's court didn't want that but mommy said it was tradition so they had to." Cliff seemed to be the foremost expert on…whatever it was that was happening here. Although one thing did confuse Turtle.

"Why didn't they want her bones down here…I mean, they're just bones."

Cliff giggled, a sound that would normally be adorable but in the current location was rather unnerving. "They thought grandma was a demon and would rise from the grave to KILL THEM!" He made a scary face at Turtle and burst into more giggles.

Turtle wasn't so convinced it was funny. "Really? Is that possible?"

"Probably not but I HOPE she comes back," Peril growled, her talons scraping the stone in anticipation. "I'll burn her to a crisp and say, 'SEE SCARLET? THAT'S HOW IT FEELS' then I'll stomp around on her ashes for extra measure!"

" _Can_ you kill a supernatural monster?" Turtle asked, seeing some obvious holes in her plan. "I mean, they've already beaten death once. Seems like it would be trickier than just…killing them again."

Peril gave a confident snort. "Dead or not, I've never met anything I couldn't burn."

 _Fair enough_ , Turtle reasoned. Peril's powers were kind of like magic themselves. Maybe she COULD kill demons.

"OUCH!" Cliff's yelped nearly made Turtle jump out of his scales. He looked to see the dragonet holding up his talon, looking at the palm with a frown. "I stepped on a sharp!"

Turtle went to check the young dragon's injuries but had to stop as shards of sharp glass sunk into his foot. Like Cliff he quickly lifted his talon away from the pain and took a look. Cold fear clinched his stomach at the sight of bone fragments – not glass – sprinkled in his skin. They were only shallowly embedded so he brushed them off. He looked to the ground to check if there were more so he could avoid them and really wished he hadn't look.

Scattered all over the floor were bones. They started out sparsely but further down they began to pile up. Guessing by the types of skulls lying around most of them looked to be from animals: cows, goats, scavengers, etc. But there were other kind of bones as well; they glittered in the light cast by him and Peril. He was no expert, but they were definitely draconic looking. Turtle swallowed. "Uh, interesting decoration choice. Personally I would have put a carpet or something in, but splintering bones littered on the floor really brings the place together."

"These weren't here before." Peril wore a confused expression as she kicked a scavenger ribcage nearby only to have it pop and sizzle at her touch. "How did these get down here? No one comes down here! This is definitely low on the places dragons decide to hang out in…unless you're a creepy dragon that likes to wear capes I guess."

"It must have been that mystery dragon!" Cliff announced with upmost surety, his fists clenched. "Them brought all this mess down here to be mean! GO HOME AND TAKE YOUR MESS WITH YOU!" he shouted down the tunnel, presumably at the hooded figure.

"But…why?" Turtle begged to know. "What would be the point of storing bones down here? And why HERE of all places?" He paused. "I don't know. Something seems off here."

"Then we better collect some evidence." Peril smiled maliciously. "Starting with an _interrogation_."

"Yeah! Let's go catch them!" Cliff stalked ahead of them, although his progress was slowed as he tried to muscle through the sharp items covering the floor. "Ow. _Ow_. Ow. OW. Ow. OUCH!"

Unable to watch any longer Turtle picked up the prince and put him on his back. While it still felt uncomfortable at least his scales were enchanted. He wouldn't have to worry about them penetrating his skin and causing infections. Who knew how long they've been down here getting gnawed on by rats and other critters…and now he just grossed himself out again.

Cliff, however, seemed to be having the time of his life. He was humming a happy tune when he tapped Turtle on the head. "The tombs are up that way!" Turtle saw the prince's talon appear above him, pointing forward. "We gotta hurry or we'll lose them!" He bounced excitedly on Turtle's neck.

"I'm on it!" Peril declared and bound down the hall leaving a trail of smoke.

"PERIL WAIT!" Turtle lumbered after her feeling like a pack-camel. "If you catch them DON''T kill them, OK?" He had no idea if Peril heard him but at least if anything went wrong and they were arrested he could tell the guards he tried his best.

"WHEEEEE! FASTER!" Cliff held onto Turtle's horns and Turtle was reminded again of the many _many_ things he would rather be doing tonight. But, for once, Turtle kept his complaints to himself as he rounded the curvature of the tunnel and was brought before an elaborate archway. Turtle didn't need to guess where they were now. In gold lettering sprawled along the top it read 'Crypt of the Queens'. Lovely.

"That's it; that's the place!" Cliff whispered loudly in Turtle's ear. The SeaWing just gave a nod in reply and followed the trail of burned talon prints on the floor. Perhaps he should have braced himself a bit better before stepping into the crypt. They didn't really have these in the Kingdom of the Sea, but he'd read horror scrolls before. He could handle it. He was a brave boy…or so he had thought.

The tunnel had been widened here, the walls covered in spiraling designs and images of weeping dragons in such detail he could see in small scales that lined their agonized eyes. It felt more like the wing of a palace rather than some hole in the ground. Well, a super creepy death inspired palace. Running the length of the hall small doorways perforated the smooth surface. Turtle tiptoed deeper into the crypt and peered inside the first of these rooms. The air inside was dry and the dust wanted to choke each breath, but Turtle kept his lips firmly clamped as he gazed at the scene before him.

Chests of what could only be treasure or some other valuable thing piled the small room. Weapons and armor long since rusted hung on the walls over an enormous sarcophagus like coffin made of black marble and rimmed with red and yellow gems that took his light and sent it back to him with a glittery flare.

Turtle gulped and backed away and, for some reason, checked another room with Cliff trying to get a peek as well. It held much the same things: armor, treasure, and, of course, the terrible statues that gazed into his soul. Each queen had decorated their tombs to their pleasing, which apparently included heavy macabre and morbid themes. Some showed statues of skeletons draped in armor, a weapon held high to perhaps protect the dead dragon within or maybe a reflection of their heroic deeds in war. Many showed murals or carvings of weeping dragons which Turtle preferred greatly over the terrifying skeleton guards. Yeah, those weeping ones were MUCH better.

Neither of them spoke as they continued down the line. Within these caskets held the Sky Kingdom's most powerful dragons; that energy hummed from them, mixing and pooling with the heavy drapes of death that clung to every crevice. It really killed the conversational mood.

They seemed to be arranged chronologically so Turtle continued down the terrible hallway until he found the more recent tombs and standing outside the last room was Peril. As he drew nearer he could see the frown on her face.

"Hm. OK. So, not that I DON'T have everything under control, because I totally do, but we might have a small problem here," Peril said looking rather nervous and Turtle had to do a double-take. Peril was NEVER nervous.

Reluctantly he poked his head in, Cliff still griping his horns tightly, and released a choked gasp as the eerie glow of his green light painted the room.

The tomb was opened; the heavy lid and all its haunting artwork tossed to the ground and cracked in all places. More bones were here as well, piled along the base of the coffin. Turtle's talons began to tremble and he had a hard time swallowing. "And, um, whose tomb is this?" He already knew the answer. This was the newest coffin and everyone knew who the last Queen was to die. He had asked in the slim hope that maybe he would be wrong.

"Scarlet," Peril said through a clenched jaw as if the word itself was cursed. He had been right but the idea was little comfort. Before either one spoke again Cliff jumped down from Turtle's back and stomped into the alcove.

"Grandma, are you being bad again?" He knocked the bones aside on his way to the opened box. Turtle rushed forward.

"Cliff, stop! Don't go in there!"

"Why not?" the small dragonet asked while on his tiptoes, trying to look in. He still wasn't tall enough to peer over the ledge.

"Yeah, why not?" Peril echoed, entering as well. She stood behind Cliff and looked into the stone coffin, her frown deepening. "Where's her head?"

Despite the gathering terror Turtle couldn't ignore his curiosity after a comment like _that_. On soft talons he entered the room as well, sneaking by the life-sized statue of Queen Scarlet, very much ignoring what sounded like breathing coming from behind it. He reached the coffin and leaned over, bracing himself to see the mangled remains of a demon or monstrous creature. What he got was just an actual skeleton, the draconic bones and gems she had been sealed up with glittering in the light. He was no anatomist but he could make out the tail, vertebrae, ribcage, neck, and….then nothing. The neck ended abruptly like some deformed, segmented eel.

His eyes bulged out. "There's no head!"

Peril rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I _just_ said that!"

"I can't see! Show me! Show me!" Cliff hobbled around on his talon tips until Turtle picked him up. The dragonets eyes widened at the sight. "Whoa! Her head's been took!"

"Do you think it was the hooded dragon we saw before?" Peril asked while circling the remains. Turtle pondered this. He supposed that was the only suspect so far, but the evidence just wasn't adding up.

"But no single dragon could remove that lid." He gestured to the massive slab of marble thrown in the floor like it had been a plank of wood. He then took a closer look inside the coffin, observing the thick layer of dust that coated the bottom except for the spot where the skull had rested. "In fact it looks as if it's been open for a while now, but the head was taken recently. Look at the dust."

And look at the dust they did, confusion growing on their face. "Well if this mystery dragon didn't open it, then who did?" Peril wondered aloud.

"They would have to be super super strong," Cliff said, then gasped at something he had just thought of. "Like, supernaturally strong!" Fear wrinkled the small dragon's features and he held onto Turtle tightly. Quietly he added, "Does you think those dragons on mommy's court were right? Is grandma a demon?"

Turtle really didn't feel able to give a confident answer right now. Instead he pointed at something glistening on the wall behind Peril. "What's that?"

Peril approached the wall, letting the natural glow of her scales light up the surface to reveal an elaborate symbol painted in red covering the wall. It was sort of circular, although the lines would dip and form knots before continuing to join on the other side. Within the circle were swirls and gentle spirals that filled the space. Turtle didn't recognize it, but from the raised brow expression of the SkyWing's he figured it meant something to them.

"Dats a protection symbol! It's for keeping bad spirits away." Cliff's eyes were wide. "Oh no. Grandma IS a demon!"

"Well whoever put this symbol on here thought so at least," Peril said. She took a closer look and Turtle followed the direction of her gaze to the streaks of paint still dripping down the wall. She gasped. "It's still wet; this was painted on just moments ago!"

"But we just GOT here moments ago! We should have seen the dragon leaving," Turtle insisted. Then he had a thought that made his heart claw its way up his throat. His voice shook. "U-unless the dragon never left the room…"

"…and is still in here," Peril finished, eyes gleaming. For a moment they all looked at each other in a silence as heavy as death before all hell broke loose. From behind the statue of Scarlet a figure leapt out from the shadows. A flash of red and black. That was all Turtle saw from the corner of his eye as he screamed and covered his head. Seconds later the figure was out of the room.

Smoke trailing behind her, Peril was already dashing towards the door. "Don't just stand there! They're getting away!" she called behind her.

Cliff jumped onto Turtle's back. "Come on! Come on! Come on! Go! Go! Go!"

Turtle withheld a sob. No-one had said anything about _physical activity_ being a part of all this. Willing his stubby legs to move Turtle began the chase, albeit a lot slower than Peril. He could see her glowing body like a distant fire shooting down the tunnels. He slowed his pace fractionally, wondering why he was in such a rush. Peril was faster. She'd catch the perpetrator. The notion relieved him…then filled him with dread.

There would _be_ no perpetrator left if she caught them! They'd go up in a cloud of smoke and ash. Thief or not Turtle really didn't want to see someone get burned alive today, thus, despite his burning lungs, joints, muscles, and general suffering, he kicked up his speed. The dragons in front of him were beginning to tire so it didn't take too long to catch up. The hooded dragon expertly ducked around corners and jumped over broken holes in the floor on their way back to the surface.

But Peril was quickly closing the distance between them. Her long legs a blur, she finally got within swiping distance of the thief. Rather than being glad Turtle merely gaped in horror, waiting for the smell of burning scales and screams to fill the air. But it never came. Just before Peril reached out the mystery dragon unclasped their hood to send it flying out behind them. It wrapped around Peril's head and snared her talons. The fiery SkyWing rolled several times as she hit the ground before finally coming to a stop. The fabric was thick and didn't disintegrate on impact either. Instead it burned low and slow with black smoke rising from its fraying edges carrying the scent of dye.

Sides heaving painfully Turtle began to slow into a trot with the intentions of helping Peril to her feet but, thrashing and snarling under the blanket, she merely waved him on. "KEEP GOING!"

He nodded, took a few deeps breaths, wished he had stretched beforehand, and pushed forward. Without the hood Turtle could now see the dragon was a SkyWing, and they were already way ahead of him. The skull of Queen Scarlet was strapped to their back like a knapsack. The tunnels must have contorted into a circle because suddenly they were going up an incline. Towards the surface. Towards escape. Even now Turtle could see the pale moonbeams ahead. He wasn't going to be able to catch them. His lungs were so strained already he wouldn't even be able to utter an enchantment if he could think of one. It was hopeless.

As if agreeing with his mental attitude, his body responded my sending an agonizing cramp along the wall of his torso. "ARRG!" he released a cry of pain and skidded to a halt to clutch his side.

Then the miraculous happened. Startled by his wails of suffering the SkyWing instinctively glanced over their shoulder…failing to notice the hole in the floor. They tumbled tail over talon, landing painfully on their face. They collapsed into a heap on the cold ground, their flank rising and falling in a high tempo from their attempted escape.

Turtle wasn't fairing so well either. He was sucking in air so hard he sounded like a wind-tunnel and he was pretty sure either his heart had burst or was beating so fast his pulse was just undetectable.

"We got 'em!" Cliff rejoiced and leapt off Turtle. He stumbled to the ground and grabbed Turtle's talon, pulling him along. Still nursing his side he waddled over to the fallen dragon who was just peeling themselves of the floor. Using his scaled lights he brightened the area, finally getting a closer look at the mystery dragon.

From the lack of small horns lining the jaw he determined them to be female. She was narrowed faced and has scales accented in deep yellows. More yellow than Turtle thought natural for a SkyWing. A large scrape on her snout oozed blood but she didn't even seem to be paying it any mind. Her eyes, pale yellow like a harvest moon, remained steady on him with the wariness of a creature ready to flee, although Turtle wasn't sure she'd be able to. She looked just as haggard as he felt.

Cliff elbowed Turtle's shin, clearing his throat loudly as a signal to _say something._

The SeaWing hesitated. Should he say something to take charge of the situation like 'Stay where you are' or 'You're under arrest.' Perhaps a friendlier approach would be better. Something along the lines of 'Don't worry we won't hurt you.'

In the end he whimpered out a pitiful, "Please don't start running again." He was still breathing hard and now the sweat was dripping off his chin. The stranger released a stout laugh.

"Don't think ah could if ah wanted tuh." Her voice was melodic with a strange accent. While speaking she held her right wrist tenderly, a wince appearing on her face as she touched it.

With the wound on her face and the injured talon Turtle realized just how banged up she was. "You're hurt. We should get you some help."

"It's fine. Just a sprain."

"Maybe I could get you some bandages or -"

"TURLTE STOP OFFERING TO HELP HER!" Stomping her way down the tunnel came Peril looking more burny than usual. "She threw a cape at my face! A VERY RUDE THING TO DO AND JUST SO YOU KNOW I BURNT IT INTO CINDERS!"

"And she took Grandma's bones," Cliff interjected. Peril nodded.

"Yeah, AND she's a suspect! So put your talons where I can see them or I'll melt your limbs off."

The stranger did as told, her pale eyes glinting like daggers as she lifted her talons to head level.

"Turtle, go untie Scarlet's head from her back," Peril then ordered. Turtle reaaaaally didn't want to be the one to touch that thing but Peril was in one of her moods and right now a misplaced complaint could get him in a lot of trouble. Indestructible scales or not.

Controlling his heeby jeebies he removed the skull and placed it on the ground next to his feet. Beneath the skull were a few leather bags strapped between her wings with rope. On had red staining around the seams, probably the paint she used for the symbol on the wall. Turtle couldn't see any crowbar or other tools that could have been used to open a tomb.

"Alright, now let's get some answers." Peril stood before the accused. She was far enough to not burn her instantly, but close enough so that her heat could be felt. A not so subtle threat of what would happen if the stranger didn't cooperate. "Why did you put all those bones in the hallway and steal Scarlet's head? Don't you know that's not what normal dragons do!? As a completely normal dragon myself I know this for a fact."

"Is this some game to you?" Cliff puffed out his wings in an attempt to look bigger. "Everybody knows its mean to break things that aren't yours. Didn't your mommy tell you that?"

The stranger's forehead pinched. "Ah only took the head and painted that sigil. Everything else in that tomb was just as ah found it."

Peril leaned closer. "Don't lie to me. It'll be the last thing you ever do."

"It's not a lie!" The dragon held Peril's burning gaze, though she did lean back to avoid being touched.

"So let's pretend for a moment we believe you," Turtle decided to join in before Peril burned their only witness. "If you didn't destroy the tomb and bring those bones down, who did?"

With her chin raised and voice full of confident certainty, the stranger answered, "It was Scarlet raised from the grave."

Turtle and Peril exchanged a look. The frown on Peril's face twisted into a half smirk half grimace. "OK, she's crazy. Let's just bring her to Ruby to handle this. I don't the time for this."

"It's true!" she insisted. The steadiness of her voice made Turtle listened. "It wasn't but a day after the demon Queen died that trouble started kickin' up in my village. First the live stalk began to die, and we'd see animals dead in the field with no wound marks…other than two holes in their neck."

Peril snorted. "Uh, animals dying are normal. Isn't that what they're _supposed_ to do so we can eat them?"

"Aye, but then dragonets started disappearing as well."

This instantly chilled the mood. Turtle glanced warily at Peril who returned it with her own uneasy expression.

Prompted by their silence the stranger continued. "They'd go into the forest to pick up more wood for the fires, or to gather berries and water from the stream, but nary did any of them return."

Turtle's mouth dried like someone had taken a sponge to it. "And you think Scarlet did all this…after she died?"

She nodded. "Oh aye. The dragons of my village of seen her."

"WHAT? That's impossible!" Smoke was shooting from Peril's nostrils. "She's been down here the whole time being super dead skeleton. What's your proof?"

The stranger sat back and her somber expression made Turtle feel like a night's fog had settled over his shoulders, cold and damp. "Have any of ye heard of the neamh-mhairbh?" When they shook their heads in response she continued, "They're a fearsome creature that is created when a dragon has done so much evil in their life that their souls cannot rest and they rise from the grave. Although they do not live they still must eat, but the only thing they crave is blood."

"So…like a vampire?" Cliff asked. Turtle had nearly forgotten he was there, so enrapt in the story was he. The small prince wore a pensive look, sagely even. "You think my grandma turned into a vampire?"

"Oh, I don't just _think_ so, wee one. I know it. And so do the other dragons of my village. Always before a disappearance a dragon, large and red as blood, is seen lurking in the forest. Half her face burned off and both eyes glowing red. Sound familiar?"

"T-that's not proof. That's just rumours and fear mongering." Peril motioned for Turtle to grab the skull. "Let's turn her in. I think there should be some guards posted outside the gates."

"What?" The thief clutched at the ropes across her chest. "No! Wait! You can't turn me in!" She looked at Turtle, desperation clinging to her scales. "You believe me, right?"

"Uhhhhhh….." Turtle delay his answer while partially hiding himself behind the heavy skull in his talon. Maybe if she didn't see him she'd forget about him.

It didn't work. She honed in on him as if his weakness was bright as the glow of his scales.

"SeaWing, please listen to me." She scooted closer and grasped onto the skull before he could shuffle away, but she didn't try to pry it from his talons. Turtle deliberately looked at the ground but in the end the pull of her eyes drew his own back up in meek defeat. "The only way to kill a vampire is to find their grave and burn their head completely. Please, just let me do that and you'll never see me again. Please."

Turtle glanced at Peril in a silent plea but she wasn't even looking at him. She was watching the other female with an intense, contemplative expression. "So, not that I believe you or anything because that would be crazy, but…" Peril said and Turtle was finally freed from the mystery dragon's burning focus. "…if you _are_ telling the truth, what OTHER proof do you have besides the alleged claims of your village?"

"Proof? You want proof? Fine." Exasperated anger fumed from the thief's mouth and nose. "How do you explain the broken coffin? No ordinary tomb robber could have managed to open that. And the bones? Those are the remains of the snacks she's needed to live. She's a demon and must be stopped!"

"And she didn't have any tomb-robbing equipment on her…if that counts for anything," Turtle added with a shrug.

"Well _I_ believe her!" Everyone looked down in surprise at Cliff's proclamation. He stood tall, head tilted back in a striking resemblance to Queen Ruby. "We should give her the head. I don't want grandma hurting anyone ever again."

Peril stared in wonderment and Turtle was endeared to see that the young dragon cared so much, but he was also a little worried Cliff wasn't quite grasping the situation. He set the skull on the ground so he could kneel down to eye level with the prince. "Cliff, it's nice you want to help but we might get in big trouble for letting her desecrate Scarlet's remains."

"Desecrate!? I'm not desecrating anything! I've saving my village!" the dragoness hissed indignantly and was promptly shushed by Peril. Cliff tilted his head from side to side, considering Turtle's words.

"Dat true, but if grandma really is hurting those dragons I think I'd be OK with being in troubles if everyone is safe."

Turtle opened his mouth to say something then shut it closed. He wasn't sure what to think of all this vampire stuff, but this dragon and her village truly believed Scarlet was tormenting them. If this could bring peace to a panicking town then it seemed rather petty to withhold something that could help them. Finally Turtle nodded in agreement. He looked up to his friend and shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me, but, what will we tell Queen Ruby?"

Cliff pursed his lips, looking up at the two with big, innocent eyes. "Does mommy _have_ to know?"

Turtle nearly choked on his gasp. "We can't lie to the Queen. We'll be in even more trouble!"

"But mommy doesn't knows we is down here," the young prince continued. He shrugged. "Maybe it can be secret?"

A wicked smile split Peril's face. "Cliff, I like the way you think. And since this is going to be our secret, I don't see why I can't do this…"

She picked the skull off the ground, holding it until the fire in her veins bled into the bone like lattice work. Cracks split across the surface. It popped and seared apart into several pieces that fell to the floor, still glowing red. Each time Peril would just pick them up again and again until a nice pile of ash lay at her feet.

"There," she hummed with pride, dusting the bone dust from her talons. "See, Scarlet? Doesn't feel so great does it? You old hag."

"That…is actually very helpful. Thank you!" The village dragon beamed and took out a small pouch from the bundle of bags on her back. She gently swept the ashes in and secured the pouch with a little rope. "Sorry about thowin mah cape at your face and all. I just didn't want to get burned alive."

Peril looked to the ground. "Yeah, I guess that's a pretty valid reason."

The stranger shook her wings out and tested her weight on the sprained wrist. She winced slightly but seemed to find damage bearable. She looked around at the three dragons facing her and then at the moonbeams behind. "Ah hate to dash like this but ah really need to get going. If ah don't bury this thing by sunrise it'll reform and eat my soul."

"Oh," Turtle squeaked. "Well, do what you gotta do I guess."

She nodded and dipped her head to each of them before limping her way out. "Thanks again!" she called out over her shoulder. "I won't forget this!" And with that she was gone. The three remaining dragons looked at each other with wide, befuddle expressions.

"So," Turtle began. "… _that_ happened."

"Yep," Cliff agreed.

"We should get out of here." For the first time Peril was the voice of reason. Her talons tapped impatiently. "I don't want to be here when the guards come down to investigate all the noise."

"Agreed." Turtle was more than ready to leave this terrible place and crawl into bed. Maybe get a few snacks on the way back. "Hey is the kitchen still open? I'm feeling a little hungry after all this activity."

"No, it not open," Cliff answered, then clasped his talons together deviously. "But I knows a secret way

"Oh yes." Peril licked her maw in anticipation. "We are definitely doing a cookie raid tonight."

Cliff clapped his talons together in unrestrained excitement. "And cupcakes! Don't forget the cupcakes!"

Turtle could only let out a short laugh as the trio made their way up the small incline leading to the moonlit exit. "You're going to turn him into a hooligan, Peril. You're a bad influence."

"Hey," Peril retaliated. "He was a hooligan LONG before he met me. If anything _he's_ the bad influence!"

Once they had all squeezed through the rocky barrier they remained sitting at the bottom of the hill, breathing in the clean air. Turtle had never imagined normal air could ever be so _good_. It was far into the night now; the moons were suspended at their zenith. They glowed pale yellow and Turtle was reminded of the strange dragon they had met that night. He hoped she would be alright.

Luckily the palace was a small flight away. Without any prompting Cliff crawled onto Turtle's back, settling snuggly between his wings. Wordlessly they were off. The autumn breeze that had once been cold was now crisp and fresh. All the jittery energy he gathered in his body was whisked away. Despite the freedom of the sky Turtle mind still lingered in the tunnels bellow. He couldn't unhinge his brain from the mysterious presented that night, and by the sidelong glances Peril was giving him he figured her mind was caught up in it as well.

"So," Turtle started nervously. "Do you _really_ think Scarlet turned into a vampire?"

"YES!" Cliff shouted above him. Peril, however, rolled her eyes.

"Pfft, no. Of course not!" She paused. "Why? Do you?"

"Haha, no way. Could you imagine? I mean, sure, there is all that weird stuff down in the crypt but that could be explained by a bunch of stuff…right?"

Peril nodded a little too vigorously. "Yeah totally! It was probably a wild animal or something that made its den in there and brought all those scraps down. Hopefully the next person that goes down there will clean it up. Yuck."

"And that broken coffin could have just been poor craftsmanship. Maybe it broke when they moved in into that room or something."

"Exactly! I mean seriously, how crazy do you have to be to believe that stuff?"

They shared a few more chuckles, then in sync the laughter dropped away and they stared ahead in silence, neither satisfied with the explanations. But what was the alternative? That Scarlet truly rose form the dead? Such things were impossible…right?

Turtle shook his head. Trying to find a logical explanation to all this was like running in circles. Right now he should just focus on getting back to the palace, getting a snack, and going to bed.

Maybe some things were best left a mystery.

* * *

Author's Note:

Oof, this took way longer than intended and is by no means by best work BUT that's what I was going for :P I just wanted a fun, Halloween story with some spooks. Also, I'll leave it up to YOU to decide of that mystery dragon was right or if all that stuff could be explained by something logical ;3 And today's my birthday! So its a nice present to me to share this story with you all today :3

Happy Halloween!


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